157 Iraqis, 2 Americans Killed Across Iraq on Thursday

Updated 10:45 p.m. EDT, Oct. 12, 2006

Today in Iraq, one American army contractor was reported to have died and two others were injured in a roadside bomb attack. U.S. military authorities are also reporting that one soldier was killed and two injured in Kirkuk, another died from wounds sustained ten days ago. British authorities are reporting that a British soldier is recovering from injuries. In other attacks, at least 157 Iraqis died and 67 were injured. Of note was a raid on a television station associated with one of the political parties.

One American was killed and two others injured by a roadside bomb. They were working a security detail for an American company contracted by the U.S. military when the bomb went off early Wednesday morning. U.S. command is reporting that one soldier was killed and two injured during action in Kirkuk. They were from the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division and the attack occurred on Wednesday as well. Another American soldier died Wednesday from wounds received on Oct. 4. A Welsh soldier is recovering in Shaiba from injuries received in a roadside bomb attack on Monday.

In Baghdad, 11 were killed when gunmen raided the al-Shaabiya satellite television offices. Among the dead was al-Rahim Nasrullah, who was the station’s board chairman and leader of the nationalist political party to which the station is affiliated.

Elsewhere in Baghdad, at least 40 bullet-riddled bodies were discovered throughout the city on Wednesday and 17 more today, including the body of Azad Mohammed Hussein, a Kurdish radio reporter. Four people were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a petrol station in the Qahira neighborhood. In central Baghdad, a car placed under a car and a car bomb exploded in succession; five died and ten were wounded. Three people died and 15 were wounded when explosives strapped to a motorcycle were detonated. In Qurtaba Square, two booby-trapped cars exploded, killing 5 and wounded 25. Also, 10 Iraqis were killed or injured when an explosives-laden motorcycle was detonated in the Cairo neighborhood.

Twelve people died in separate incidents throughout Baquba.

In Suweira, four blindfolded and bound bodies were found in the Tigris River. Two were shot and two had their throats cut. Another 11 bodies were discovered nearby.

Four bodies were found in Kirkuk. They bore evidence of torture. Gunmen attacking a police patrol killed five, including Lieutenant Basem Mohammad. Near Kirkuk, a suicide bomber rammed his car into an Iraqi Army checkpoint; the bomber was killed and a soldier was injured.

A woman was killed and six others wounded during a bomb attack in a residential neighborhood of Samarra.

Near Diwaniya, gunmen attacked a police station. One policemen died and the gunmen successfully freed 10 detainees.

Near Iskandariya, a man died while trying to plant a bomb.

Gunmen killed four civilians on a road between Kirkuk and Baghdad. When family and soldiers arrived to recover the bodies, a booby-trap went off and killed a soldier. On the same road, a roadside bomb killed two Iraqi soldiers and injured six others.

In Falluja, a disembodied head was discovered.

Mohammad Al-Mousawi Al-Qasimi, Secretary General of the Islamic Unity Party, was assassinated in Babel. He died from injuries sustained in a bomb blast.

In Diyala, nine were killed in four separate incidents. Among the dead are a director of the provincial department for children's affairs and his son who were killed when gunmen stormed their home.

The headless body of a Christian priest was discovered late Wednesday in Mosul. Family members of Paulos Iskander said the ransom demands included U.S. $350,000 and that the church condemn the Pope's recent speech. Also in Mosul, police killed eight militiamen and confiscated their vehicles. In separate attacks around the city, four civilians and two policemen were killed, including Group Captain Ali Subhi Al-Mashhadani and two of his sons.

In Ramadi, a suicide truck bomber blew himself up outside army headquarters. Casualties have yet to be reported.

On the road between Tikrit and Drouz, a bomb killed killed two Iraqi soldiers and injured six others.

Compiled by Margaret Griffis